The Magical and The Godly
by A.J. Wates
Summary: Percy Jackson is magical, and that is always gonna be a fact. He's also seriously protective of his friends, even new ones. Example, Eliot Wough, Julia Wicker, Margo Hanson, and Quentin Coldwater. He's also had enough of powerful people messing with people who aren't as strong. So yeah, the moment he manages to get his hands on this so-called "Beast", he's ripping the guy a new one
1. The Magical and The Godly

**By the way, it's my own personal headcanon that Percy is as black as I am, so if you don't like that I guess you can go read another story or something. This isn't to be rude or anything, it's just a general statement to let you all know.**

For some people magic is innate. It flows through their veins like the very blood that keeps them alive. For others, it's a skill discovered much later in life. For Percy Jackson it was the later of the two.

His life had been filled with gods, monsters and magic since he was twelve and even now, at twenty-five years old, magic had began invading his life once again.

Trouble came to him in the form of a piece of paper landing in front of him on the street. He's had enough experience with magic to know when something has been enchanted. Reaching down, the demigod isn't surprised when a phantom gust of wind comes and sweeps the piece of paper out of his reach. With an audible sigh, Percy begins to follow it, even though he knows it'll only lead him to trouble. Because, after all, when was he ever promised a peaceful life.

After a short while, Percy finds himself standing in front of an opening in a wall of bushes. He can practically feel the magic radiating from the space between and he narrows his eyes.

"Should I? Or shouldn't I?" And so, he pulls out a single quarter." Why not let the magic decide?"

Without hesitating he rests the coin on his thumb and flicks it into the air. He watches as the coin appears to disappear into the sky.

"Heads we go in," He says knowing that the odds aren't in his favor. "Tails we go home."

Then the coins start falling back toward him, seemingly faster than when he threw it up. The demigod has no trouble at all catching it. Percy doesn't know why, but he's almost nervous as he flips the coin over on the back of his hand and just as he suspected the side of the coin he finds facing him is heads.

He isn't sure that he would have disagreed in the first place. However, there's still a part of him arguing that the Fates are messing with him, big time. But still he pushes through the opening in the bushes, careful not to get poked in the eye by stray branches.

When he eventually stumbles out, he finds himself on the neatly groomed lawn of a university. Certainly not what he was expecting.

"Hey there pretty boy, you were almost late." Percy turned and found himself looking at a pretty girl wearing an expensive looking clothes . Her skin was brown, lighter than his own.

"Late for what?" Percy asked.

"The entrance exam," The girl replied as she began walking toward the university. "Now follow."

Of course, Percy did so.

"I'd like to know exactly where I am, if that isn't too much to ask?"

"Brakebills University of course. Where else would you be?"

Percy rolled his eyes at the sarcastic reply but didn't stop himself from replying with his own.

"Oh of course, how could I have forgotten, nobody told me in the first place. Or perhaps, where we are, and why I'm here."

The girl, Percy had to remember to get her name, turned around with a surprisingly fierce look in her eyes that were coincidentally narrowed at him. She looked him up and down, almost like she was trying to find his insecurities, before she spoke again.

"I like you Pretty Boy, so I'm going to be nice." She glanced around like she was looking for a place to start and then she began to talk, nice and slow, like she was explaining something to a toddler. "Welcome to Brakebills University located here in upstate New York. You're here because some pompous group of idiots think that you have some aptitude for magic. Whether or not you still have it depends on them and the entrance exam which you are running late for. Now if you're done asking questions, you'd better kick your ass into high gear before Dean Fogg has my ass filleting on a grill. By the way, my name's Margo."

With that, the girl turned around and started powerwalking to the building that stood in the center of it all.

Brakebills University.

With a deep breath, Percy followed her, and Margo's words still played in his head. Of course he had an aptitude for magic, his father was a god for gods sake. Whether or not they were the same type of magic was another question entirely.

She led him into the school and to a room filled with other people around his age.

"Late!" Someone screamed out as the sea prince quickly took a seat around the middle section, next to a brown-haired girl who seemed to be questioning everything that she knew.

"Are you okay?" He asked, and she turned to him slowly.

"Uh yeah." Her voice was soft. "Just a little confused if anything."

Percy nodded. He could understand that. Most of the people here were mortal, of course they'd be confused if magic was suddenly just thrusted into their lives.

"Well," He said after a moment. "If it helps anything, I'm Percy, and I'm a bit confused too."

He offered his hand and waited for her to take it.

"It's nice to meet you Percy, " She said with a small smile. "I'm Julia."

The quickly shook hands.

"So you know what happens if we don't pass this test, or has that not been explained."

"Nope, they're being really secretive about it. Almost as if they hadn't kidnapped us from our normal everyday lives to take an entrance exam that we never even signed up for."

Percy let out a chuckle.

"You've got a point."

"So how about this," Julia said. "I got a feeling that whatever happens, we're not leaving this place the same way we came in, whether that's good or bad, I don't know."

Percy certainly had to agree and let the girl continue talking.

"So we trade information, and if the day goes by and neither of us messages the other, we find the other person and tell them what happened. There should be something that we say that only the other person would know, so that way we know this isn't all some fucked up trick."

Percy had to agree. Her plan was solid enough and he could already see the fire burning in her eyes. He'd already decide from their short conversation that he liked her and here she was proving to be smart and quick on her feet.

"What happens if something happens to both of us?" Percy questioned and waited to see how she would respond.

He watched as she seemed to think it over, before a smile came to her face.

"Then this all till holds up. Wouldn't you wonder why you have some random girls information with you?"

The demigod had to admit, she had a point. So with the quickness of two thieves in the night, the two swap information, and in doing so, the wheel of fate is derailed and the plans of a certain figure in the shadows must be change to accommodate a new unexpected arrival.

Be even The Beast can't be prepared for a demigod as unpredictable as the sea.


	2. Memories of A Friend

Maybe Julia was going crazy, because the possibility of any of this being more than a hyper realistic dream was way too her for her liking, but somehow, she still wished all of it was real.

"You've just been given an examination of your magical aptitude."

"Magical?" The people here certainly weren't any help, she decided.

"We have reason to believe you possess certain nascent abilities."

Julia smiled.

"Okay." She paused. "I mean, I used to think that- "

The man in front of her cut her off.

"And perhaps, at one time, you did." The man sighed. "Unfortunately, you failed the written portion of the exam. Its my job to prepare you to go home."

The man took off his glasses and suddenly, the mood did a complete 180. Julia had to take a few moments to process what the man had said to her.

"What?"

"It's all right though," The man paused, trying to sound understanding. "We'll proved an alibi for your missing time."

"That test was crazy," Julia argued. "Any sane person would have had trouble focusing let alone actually answering the questions. I mean, they kept changing."

"Be that as it may- "Julia cut him off before he could continue.

"No," There was already anger seeping into her voice. "Don't you want students who make actual inquiry instead of just accepting like sheep."

The man gave her a small almost pitying smile, almost as if he'd heard this same rant hundreds of times and it never got any sadder. Julia hated that look already, but she took a deep breath and smiled.

"I'm sorry, um, can I start over?" She paused. "Please? I can't just go to Yale if I know that this place exists."

"Why is why I'm going to make sure that you don't remember a thing."

Alarms started blaring in her head the moment the words left the man's mouth and she remembered Percy, god she hoped he passed. She hoped he remembered their plan and even more so, she hoped that she would believe him when he found called her.

The man quickly got up from his seat in front of her, and making a split-second decision, Julia quickly pulled off one of her rings. Even if Percy didn't manage to find her she'd find her own way to make herself remember. So, she quickly pressed the ring into her arm and dragged it along her skin with enough force that her arm opened, and blood flowed free. She winced, but bared the pain, maybe it would be worth it in the end. Then, making sure that the strange man didn't see, she quickly pulled down her sleeve.

Somehow, someday, she'd be back here.

* * *

Maybe Percy was looking too much into it but damn, he couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone seriously wrong. It had been a whole hours since they'd taken the test and Julia still hadn't contacted him. But his worrying always did get the better of him, which is why he found himself sitting in a Starbucks, waiting on a very late goddess, or should he say titan.

It wasn't long before the small bell above the door jingled, and all chatter in the coffee shop seemed to stop. Percy looked up from his own coffee and couldn't help but perk up. The woman standing in the door way had long flowing black hair and dark skin. She had distinctly Greek features that seemed to have been sculpted by the gods themselves and she seemed to glow, even on a gloomy day like the current one. Percy knew, that that wasn't the truth, as the woman there had been alive even longer that the gods themselves. The most prominent feature that stood out about the woman were here eyes. They seemed old…. ancient…. powerful.

"Aunt Mnemosyne." Percy called out and stood. The words still felt foreign on Percy's tongue, even after years had passed.

"Oh, Percy darling, it's been years since we've spoken." The Titaness sat as Percy pulled out her chair for her. "What could I possibly do for you?"

Percy gave the woman a smile as he sat down in his own seat.

"I need you to see if you can find someone's memories for me. I think they've been erased, or at least stolen, and I want to get them back as soon as possible."

"Oh of course darling, after you pulled that saved my family and I from a boring eternity in Tartarus, most of us owe you a few favors. Do you know how horrible it is down there? No access to running water, cable, the-…"

Mnemosyne quieted as she saw Percy's smile turn tight. For being the Titaness of memories, she could sure be forgetful. Percy knew all about what she was saying, he'd spent time in the god's forsake place himself.

"Oh Percy, I'm so sorry." She reached over and squeezed his hand, which had been gripping his cup of coffee tighter than it had been before.

"It's fine Auntie, I just need to know if you can do this for me." Percy said in a quiet voice.

"Of course, my dear. I just need a name and a few minutes."

"Her name is Julia Wicker and I haven't known her long, but I made her a promise and I intend to keep it."

Mnemosyne nodded and closed her eyes. As she did, Percy could feel her touch his mind, his memories, but it wasn't more than a tap before she moved on. He could tell she was busy searching the whole city. A few minutes passed before the Titaness opened her eyes again.

"They've definitely been stolen and not erased. Right now they're being stored in a room guarded by some pretty heavy magical wards. Whoever took them is pretty well versed in warding and doesn't want anyone getting to them."

Percy nodded.

"So, if I asked," Percy paused. "You wouldn't be able to get them for me?"

Mnemosyne looked like Percy had just spit on her grave and killed her favorite child.

"Please tell me you're joking Perseus. These are mortal magicians we're talking about and I am a Titaness more than five millennium old. I could rip the whole room out of place and the mortals would be none the wiser. Such a claim is cause enough for me to leave right this second."

Percy rolled his eyes as the Titaness dramatics.

"Fine," He said with a sigh. "I'm sorry for suggesting that you aren't powerful enough to retrieve a box of memories from under the warding of a mortal magician. Would you please be so kind as to get them for me, so that I may return them to my friend."

Mnemosyne smiled and waved a hand over the table in front of her. Then, Percy watched as a swirl of sand appeared on the table, until it began to form into the shape of a box. Once it was done, Percy noticed that It had a faint glow to it as well as the fact that it was slightly transparent. Mnemosyne laid a gentle finger on it and it solidified in front of them. Once it was done, Mnemosyne opened it and Percy saw the spinning sphere of memories that belonged to his friend.

"There you are Perseus. Easy as pie, right as rain. A box of memories for your friend to own again."

Percy couldn't help but smile as he reached for the memories.

"Before you take those Perseus, I want you to promise me one thing. Fate is a very tricky train to derail, and you've met more than enough people who have jumped off that very same train with you. If you are about to take another leap like that, make sure that you never let go of those people, old and new, that you jump with. Hold them tight, tighter than you have ever held anything, and you fight for them no matter what it takes. Protect them, make sure they are willing to protect you. Most importantly, Perseus, trust them and make sure they trust you. Promise me this Perseus and that box is yours."

Percy thought over the Titaness's words and he realized how heavy her words seemed to weigh on him. But like the weight of the sky, it was something that he would bare.

"I promise Aunt Mnemosyne."

The Titaness of Memory gave the child of Poseidon a long look, knowing that the boy's heart was, as always, in the right place and so she slid the box of memories over to Percy.

"Then take the memories and return them to your friend. Ease her through what she has lost and help her find a way through the pain. But remember, this path of fate has been walked many times before, but you have always been the one to walk off that path."

Percy nodded and took the box from the table.

"Goodbye Perseus. I hope you know what you're doing."

With that, Mnemosyne turned into sand before him and a stray wind came and blew her away.

"So much to do," Percy said with a sigh. "Such little time."

With that, Percy pulled out his phone and called the girl who probably didn't remember him at all.


	3. Change Your Mind

Quentin Coldwater was obviously disoriented.

Magic was always something that he'd always considered a trick for a party. A little slight of hand had always helped him get through the times when he felt loneliest, when it felt like the world was crashing down on him and maybe he couldn't find a way from underneath the burning rubble. But this, this was something that he could only dream of.

A school for magic.

The words sounded strange even in his mind. But they were true he couldn't believe that they were true. So, as he walked to the dorm that he was assigned at magical college, and pulled open the door to the room, his thoughts stopped completely.

"Uh…are you my, uh…" He couldn't find the words to finish the sentence, even though it was right on the tip of his tongue.

The Indian guy who he had sat next to during the entrance exam stood in front of him. There was an awkward silence between the two, and eventually Quentin felt that it had gotten too long. He looked away, toward the bed that was his and noticed a distinct lack of something that had definitely been there when he had woken up.

"Um, hey I had a-" He struggled to find the words as he walked around the small space that was his designated area. "Okay, um, I had a notebook right here, Fillory and Further: Book Six. Did you..."

Quentin lets his words trail off.

"And you what, you think I stole it? Some dumb-ass kid's book?"

It wasn't what Quentin had been thinking at all. What he was thinking was more along the lines of "did you see it?"

"And why do you have all of that nerd boy, dragon porn stuff anyway? What are you, twelve?"

Quentin didn't have a chance to answer. He wasn't even sure that he would have been able to answer in the first place.

"Quentin," He heard as the guy who had escorted him to his test entered the room. He briefly recalled that his name was Eliot. Next to Eliot was a very pretty girl who's laughter died down as she stopped in front of him.

"This is the interruption you've been waiting for."

"Hi." The girl spoke, her voice sounding vaguely mischievous. "I'm Margo."

Margo quickly gave him a once over, and Quentin suddenly felt as if he was being judged.

"This is him. Hmm." She turned casually began fiddling with his tie before she sent an offhand comment to Eliot. "He's not as cute as the guy that I told you about, but he's definitely something."

Then, with a smile, she turned and walked out of the room. Eliot rolled his eyes before turning to Quentin.

"Follow."

Soon enough Quentin was following the pair on a tour.

"So, first years live in these dorms." Eliot said as he motioned around him." The depending on your talent you go to the house with your emphasis."

"OR," Margo said with emphasis. "You flunk out, in which case, bye-bye."

Quentin could not say he was surprised by her utter lack of caring.

"But you wouldn't care cause you wouldn't remember." She added offhandedly.

Soon enough, the trio found themselves in the school courtyard. Eliot quickly said hello to a pair of professors who walked by before he turned his focus back on the people who all around him.

"Physical kids," Eliott said as he pointed at a group of people. "Telekinesis, move shit, lift shit, most can fly."

He walked and grabbed an apple from a circle of them floating in the air.

"Also, amazing partiers. Do not come by our house if you have important shit to do the morning after."

Margo smiled, seemingly satisfied with the reputation that the house held.

"Next up is illusions, healing, nature, and knowledge." Eliot pointed out each group of kids as they walked and Quentin didn't even have time to focus on what the different groups of people were doing as they walked by. Eliot and Margo seemed to be occupying their own world while simultaneously being in the real one.

"Psychics," Eliot pointed out as they passed a pair of twins. "You know what they are?"

Quentin nodded.

"Losers." Eliot whispered.

Quentin nearly jumped when he heard two distinct voices on his head, both of which were not his own.

"Eat shit, Eliot."

Said person smiled.

"Like I said. "

Both Margo and Eliot fell silent as a pair of students walked past them. Both of them looked as i someone had drained all the joy from their bodies and left them to walk the earth as emotionless husks. Quentin probably should've kept quiet but he couldn't help himself.

"What? Who are they?"

"Don't." Eliot said "You'll scare the child."

"Maybe he should be scared."

Eliot sighed.

"You're so dramatic."

The two of them giggled, before Eliot sobered himself and started talking.

"That is what's left of the third-year class. There was originally twenty of them, now there's only 4. No one knows why."

"So they're just gone?" Quentin asked in disbelief.

"Hmm," Margo hummed in agreement. "Rumor has it, killed."

Eliot rolled his eyes.

"Or flunked out or got bored or died 16 perfectly natural deaths. Whatever. We all sign this waiver. I hope you read yours. It says, "Spellwork is not unlikely to murder you, and if so, oh, well."

'So," Margo said to drive the point home. "Stay on the garden path, kid."

The words took a moment to reach Quentin's ears.

"Yeah." Eliot said simply. "Enough maudlin blah. Lets go find something magical to smoke."

Percy had been waiting for over an hour now. It wasn't that he minded, but his ADHD tended to act up when he was bored, and right now he had every right to be. He had called Julia yesterday and luckily the girl had agreed to meet him. He was lucky that she didn't call him crazy and hang up the phone. The girl was willing to hear him out, however, it wasn't in the same day that he had hoped. She had other things to do.

So, her box of memories sat in a bag on the table in front of him. There was also a finished cup of what had been tea, and beside that was a cup of coffee, still steaming. He should have been glad to have his free time, but even now it wasn't free time. So goes the life of a demigod.

Percy grabbed his cup, ready to drink down the warm liquid but a chill ran down his spine and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He quickly glanced around the room, and finally noticed the surprising lack of stillness in the shop. Everything inside had stopped. Everything except for him. He let out a sigh and continued to sip his coffee, not even looking up when the bell over the door rang. A warm breeze flowed into the shop and Percy could now narrow down his list of possible suspects down to two people, or immortals if you will.

"Helios." Percy said as he sat his coffee down. "How nice to see you."

The titan flashed him a blinding smile. All white teeth against flawless brown skin. He had all the beauty of a greek god, but Percy knew for certain that he was much more than that. Much older.

"Hello Little Ocean," Helios said with a soft smile. "How have you been."

"I've been worse." Percy admitted. "But you already know that."

Helios seemed to agree. However, he didn't voice his agreement, as he was more focused on looking at Percy.

'Would you walk with me, Little Ocean?"

"Hnmm," Percy contemplated it. "I would, but I have other business to attend to today. Maybe a raincheck though."

The old sun god gave a small smile, small and sincere.

"Then that's all I ask." With that Helios straightened. "Now on to other matters. I never thanked you for what you did for my family and I. Well at least not to the fullest extent."

Percy let out a scoff and took another sip of his coffee. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Helios you literally gave me a piece of the sun." Percy pulled on the chain hidden underneath his shirt and pulled out the necklace that he was wearing. The pendant at the end was about the size of a quarter and warm to the touch. Directly in the middle of the pendant was a single piece of peridot. It was incased in what was literally a piece of the sun.

"You kept it." Helios sounded surprised.

"Duh," Percy said as he tucked the necklace back underneath his shirt. "It was a gift from a titan. That's gotta mean something."

"Yes, I have to say that I agree."

"But nonetheless, I know how short on time you're running, so I'll say this now and be on my way. My offer still stands, now or one hundred years from now my offer will still stand."

With that Helios stood, Percy noticed that people had slowly began moving again.

"By the way, your friends gonna be walking in soon."

With that, Helios made his way out of the café and then, unsurprisingly, time in the café seemed to resume all together. It wasn't long before the bell rang once and this time, he was glad to see familiar face of Julia standing at the entrance. She scanned the café before her eyes eventually landed on Percy. Slowly and cautiously, the amnesiac made her way over to Percy.

The demigod couldn't blame her.

Julia took the seat in front of him. She looked around the café once again as if there was something more to be seen. Something hidden from plain sight. To be honest it was perfectly possible. With Percy's own world hidden from the eyes of mortals and the magicians practicing magic right under their noses, there was no telling what else was hiding. For all Percy knew, there could be trolls and aliens as well.

"Percy, right?" The demigod nodded. "You said you might have something that I've been looking for."

"Everything's right in here." Percy said as he slid the bag closer to her. "I'd prefer if you opened it here though, just in case anything goes wrong."

Julia nodded. Something about the situation made her want to be cautious and for some reason, her gut was telling her that right here was the safest place to do it. Her memories were missing, and this could be what she needed to get them back, or at least some clue as to how to. So, taking a deep breath, she opened the bag and pulled the box out. Throwing caution to the wind, she pulled the box open and suddenly things went bright.

 **Hi. I don't really know why this chapter took me so long to get started and post, but here it is. We finally get Eliot, Quentin and Margo in the same scene as well as a Percy-Julia reunion scene. Also we get a scene between Percy and Helios. That part was actually very last minute, but it is part of the plot that i had for the Percy Jackson half of this story. Next chapter is the last bit of episode 1 and then we're moving on to episode 2. Sorry f the book seems to be going kinds slow I gonna stick it out until i can get in the flow. BTW the trolls and aliens thing is a hint but at the same time it isn't Idk nothing is concrete.**


	4. Memories and Moths

"So, what now?"

She had a headache now. The box that had once contained her memories sat empty in front of her and even more, the guy who she had trusted to get them back for her was still there too. The two of them were an odd pair, not to anyone looking on from the outside, but they themselves knew just how unique a pair they were. One knew more so than the other.

'Well I actually have other things to do soon, so I guess the real question is what do you want to do? I'm not sure what they'll do, considering that I stole your memories, not that they know, but I don't think you'll be able to go back to Brakebills. They did kick you out and wipe your memory on the premise that you can't do magic. If you tried to go back, they'd just do the same thing."

Before he could continue, Julia interrupted him.

"I know but isn't there anything that you can do. You were the one who got my memories back, even though I'm sure they were locked up in some big magical safe. You did more than anybody else could in this situation Percy, can't you do just a little more."

The girl sounded damn near desperate. Percy couldn't help but think that maybe giving the girl back her memories may have been a bad idea. The girl didn't have magic, knowing about it would only make her want something that she couldn't have. Percy contemplated calling Hecate, but he didn't even know if she could help in this situation, or even if she'd be willing to.

"Honestly Julia, I don't even know if it's possible. I was able to get your memories back because of a favor someone owed me. But getting you into Brakebills might be way out of my range. I swear though, I'll help you any other way that I can."

Gods damn it all, with a promise like that something was bound to go wrong. The girl nodded, but Percy couldn't help but notice how defeated she looked. Damn him and his compulsive need to help other people.

"Are you always so willing to help people that you barely know?"

"Yes, and most of the time it gets me in crazy, fucked up situations, but I do try to help whenever I can."

Julia smiled. Other people wouldn't have been so nice, hell, other people wouldn't have helped at all.

"Thank you, Percy, for everything you're doing."

The demigod nodded and gave a small smile himself.

"Well I should probably get going, I gotta go get some shit figured out."

With a small nod, the girl rose from her seat, and quickly said goodbye to Percy, leaving the demigod sitting there by himself. He let out a sigh before getting up himself and pulling a 20 out of his pocket and sitting it on the table. With that, he left the café and began making his way back toward his apartment. While he did have class in about an hour, he didn't feel the need to make his way to Brakebills just yet. Even if he needed to be there quickly, he could just call Blackjack and have the Pegasus fly him there, it's not like the people of New York would see him. He briefly wondered if at some point he'd be able to put a spell on a broom and fly around on it like the classic witches from the old stories his mom used to tell him. The thought alone made him chuckle

It wasn't long before he came to the front door of his apartment. There was a slight static in the air and almost immediately Percy was put on edge. There were only three people that he knew had that effect on the air, two of which were more welcome than the other one. Percy steeled his nerves, not that they were going crazy anyway, but still. It was best to go in prepared if his uncle had decided to pay him a visit.

Slowly, he pushed open the door and stepped into his apartment. The smell of ozone was palpable and as he stepped over the threshold of the front door the lights flickered on, alerting Percy even further to the fact that there was some godly shit going on.

"Please, do come in Perseus." He heard from the living room. "We have matters to attend to, and it is your apartment after all."

Percy quickly recognized it as the voice of his uncle, all high and mighty and holier than thou. He let out a deep sigh, and he couldn't help but think that maybe it would have been better if he'd went to class earlier.

Without much more of a choice, the demigod made his way into his living room. His eyes did a quick scan over the room, falling on the pictures on him and his mother on the walls, to the ones of his friends on the tv stand and coffee table. Zeus, the big guy himself, sat in the comfiest chair in the entire room, which also happened to be the biggest thing to sit on besides the couch opposite of it. Leave it to him to make himself the center of attention in someone else's house.

"What can I do for you uncle?" The sea prince asked tightly, still standing.

"There is an underlying problem that has yet to be brought to light upon Olympus, one that you happen to be at the very center of."

Percy noticed that there was just a hint of contempt in his uncle's voice.

"I would have done something about it a long time ago, but more than just your father would have declared war. Those titans you've somehow managed to get wrapped around your finger would have sided with him and would have left me in a very tight spot, dethroned and powerless."

The old god paused.

"Uncle I'd like you to get to the point soon," Percy said.

"Those titans are loyal to you Perseus, ever since you managed to convince the council to free them from Tartarus and roam this realm, they have been loyal to you. They pledged their loyalty to YOU. Not to Olympus, not to me, and not to your father. Had it not been for you, I'm sure they would have toppled Olympus brick by golden brick. But they have not, because you are still loyal to Olympus."

The man still hadn't reached his point.

"But that could all change," Zeus paused. "If you accept the offer."

For a moment, Percy's mind went blank.

"What offer?"

Zeus seemed to realize that he'd slipped up and suddenly Percy realized exactly what he'd meant. The conversations he'd had with Helios was supposed to be private, Helios had said he'd always made sure to shield them from the prying eyes of the gods, even when his visits seemed random. The only way Zeus would have known is if he'd been there.

"Uncle… "Percy hissed. "Have you been spying on me?"

Zeus hesitated for a moment, looking as if he was contemplating something.

"I wouldn't call it spying, more like monitoring my assets."

Percy nodded. Assets, okay.

"Uncle, I'm going to ask you to get the hell out of my apartment now."

Zeus looked surprised, almost as if he'd expected Percy to be happy with being called an asset. Especially to someone who'd threatened t kill him multiple times over.

Zeus cleared his throat and rose to his feet.

"Very well then," He said while fixing the golden cufflinks of his suit. "I can tell when I am unwelcome."

"I wonder if that entered your mind when you first entered my apartment." The words spilled from Percy's mouth unrestrained.

The god seemed resigned to the fact that he'd just royally messed up. With a curt nod, he dissolved into a shower of sparks and left Percy standing in his living room alone. The demigod plopped himself down on the exact chair that Zeus had once been sitting on. This would cause problems in the future.

Somehow, his uncle had managed to make him feel uncomfortable in his own house, and that was always a bad sign. Percy decided he would leave before lightning struck and left him and his house a burning mess.

It wasn't long before Percy found himself at Brakebills once again. The campus was empty, eerily so, almost like all the students had decided to collectively drop shit and run for the hills. That wasn't encouraging. His demigod senses were practically screaming at him, in big capital letters, DANGER TURN THE FUCK AROUND! Like he always did in these types of situations though, he continued.

He couldn't even lie and say that he had a good feeling about this.

He was the last one to enter the classroom.

"Always pay close attention to the alloys." Percy head as he entered and took one of the last seats available, which happened to be next to an anxious looking boy with brown hair. "Uh, iron has a neutral quality, whereas silver and gold have the effect of magnifying the effects of other components of the alloy. I would caution you to test for this each time before using a knife for ritual work."

The professor seemed just as nervous to be in the class as some of the students. Percy, then chose to observe the room, noticing the way that some of the students were half asleep already, while the rest of them seemed to be paying rapt attention. The kid next to him was playing with a coin, almost as if he'd been doing it his whole life.

"A spell can alter the metal at, uh, at a quantum level-"

Percy tuned out as the first strike of twelve rung out loudly in his ear. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and his hand crept toward his pocket. Something bad was about to happen, he could feel it in the way the air changed. A few more moments passed, and the professor froze in place. Percy's eyes widened and he gasped.

He knew this feeling; it was so familiar yet so foreign at the same time. The room was quiet, terrifyingly so. By now, Percy knew that he was strong enough to resist time magic, fighting with someone who had ultimate control over it did that to you, but he still checked to see if he could move anything other than his eyes. Slowly, he brought Riptide out of his pocket. The enchanted weapon practically hummed as it felt the magic in the air.

That's when Percy heard the fluttering, like tiny wings flapping against the fabric of the universe and made his stomach want to eject from his body. The sound got louder as more and more flapping filled the silence in the room. Bugs, Percy realized, more specifically, moths. It was then that Percy heard the steps. He was sure that he hadn't heard the door open. Strangely though, the steps were coming from the mirror.

They were slow deliberate steps, surrounded by the flapping of wings. Percy recognized the figure as a man as he walked around to the front of the classroom and turned to toward the professor. Percy watched as the man held a six-fingered hand up at his side and executed a series of hand movements. His instincts were practically screaming at him now, as he heard the professor begin choking, eventually, there was a snap and the man fell to the floor, dead.

The monster, yes, he had officially elevated to that term, turned back toward the door and not even a few seconds later it swung open. There was a yell and then a gust of wind as The Monster went flying back onto the professor's desk. The monster rose to his feet quickly, the spell seeming ineffective and sent out a spell of his own. Percy heard the crunching of bones and then a pained scream and finally a crunch.

Nest to him, the coin in the boy's hand dropped onto the desk.

The monster stopped in his tracks and turned to look toward Percy and the boy. He slowly made his way over to them before stopping in front of the boy's desk and leaning over him.

"Quentin Coldwater, there you are." The monster began to reach for the boy, Quentin. But Percy wouldn't let that happen =.

He'd had enough.

Without even thinking, he'd uncapped Riptide and had it pointing at The Monsters arm, ready to chop it off. A moth went to land on the blade as soon as it touched down, it burst into flame.

"I think you've caused enough harm for today. Wouldn't you agree?"

Percy saw Quentin's eyes flick to him and then to Riptide and the pile of fried moth on his desk, then to the monster and to Percy again. The monster's head traced up the length of Riptide and finally settled on Percy's face. The boy's eyes were glowing a poisonous shade of green that was so different from his usual sea green. Quentin felt stuck between an immovable object and an unstoppable force. The power radiating off of the two figures in from of him made all the warning bells in his head go off. He had no idea how he hadn't noticed it just moments before when one of the figures was sitting next to him.

The sword in his classmate's hand almost burned to look at, which of course probably explained why the moth had burned when it landed on the blade.

"And who might you be?" The monster asked as he straighter himself out. A huff of air left Quentin's nose,

"A friend to some," Percy replied evenly. "An enemy to many others. Depends on the day, I suppose.

"Yes, that would appear so."

The monster gave Percy a once over. Taking note of the necklace around his neck.

"You are an extremely peculiar specimen." The monster began to move slowly away from Quentin and at the same time, Percy moved forward, his sword trained at the monster's chest. He regarded Percy as if the boy couldn't actually hurt him. "Please do tell me how you managed to evade the effect of my spell. I don't suppose it has anything to do with that little charm you're wearing, does it?"

"Nice guess," Percy said with a flat voice. "But no dice."

"I'd like to know who the hell you think you are, coming into this classroom and hurting people." The man was obviously an enemy, and with so many innocent people in the classroom, Percy wouldn't let him hurt any more people than he already had. He'd mad an obvious mistake not intervening earlier than he had, and now he was mad, and that didn't bode well for anyone on the receiving end of his anger.

"A child like you would never be able to comprehend my purpose. Now be a good little boy and die, children have no right to mettle in the affairs of the adults."

With a series of quick hand movements, the man sent a blast of energy at Percy, to which he quickly blocked using Riptide. The attacking did make him slide a few inches away from the man, which was obviously less than what the man was hoping for.

"Jeez, you people have got to learn that I am not someone you can throw around like a fucking ragdoll. Honestly, it's getting really tiring and frankly, I would prefer it if you got THE FUCK OUT."

Percy had no doubt that the other people in the room thought he was insane, but he had other things to worry about right now.

Percy burst forward at an inhuman speed, his sword gripped low. His speed was obviously something that the man didn't suspect, and he had no time to prepare an attack or block Percy's. Percy's smiled to himself when he heard clothes ripping and felt his sword cut skin.

He quickly pulled his sword free and back-peddled. He could tell the man was obviously surprised and there was a big red spot that was slowly getting bigger on his arm.

"Awww did the big bad moth man get a stain on his brand-new suit? Tragic."

The man growled behind his cloud of moths and clutched his bleeding arm.

"You insect, you worm. You petty little things always find a way to mettle in things you don't understand or have any business in. Leave now and I'll spare your little life-"

Percy cut him off.

"Dude, way too many people have said the same thing and they all are dead and gone now."

The man paused, his moth cloud fluttering around him anxiously. Percy knew he didn't have to fight the man for long, just long enough for the spell to wear off and then one of the other people in the room to help him. He could already feel the magic in the air becoming stale and unconcentrated, which means he had weekend the man's concentration enough that the others could break free soon. Percy's senses were working on overtime, so much so that he notices the slight twitch of the blonde girl's fingers. If anything, she looked smart. Smart enough to help in a tight situation.

"I don't suppose you'd think about going back to where ever the hell you came from."

"I have a purpose here child and I won't let you distract me from it."

With that, the moth man flung another spell at Percy, this time knocking the demigod off his feet. However, the blonde girl quickly rose to her feet and let out a powerful burst of magic that clearly caught the man off guard. It was enough for Percy to get back on his feet and ready Riptide once again. Percy and the girl made eye contact, both holding a power and determination that stood them apart from the others.

"A-Alice." All three of them turned toward the voice that had spoken. Quentin Coldwater himself sat there, partially paralyzed.

"Just stay there Quentin, let us handle this."

With that, she turned back to the problem at hand before she started casting another spell. Battle magic was hard and required concentration, and she expected the boy with the sword to be able to handle the man until she could finish her spell. He'd certainly done it before.

"You got this right," She said to the boy and watched as he smirked, something that screamed pure trouble.

"I got this."

The man with the moths lets out a scream of frustration, obvious not used to so much defiance. He launched a spell at Percy, but the demigod easily dodged.

Percy coated the edge of the sword in water before sending it out toward the moth man. At the same time, Alice finished off her spell and sent it flying toward the cloud of moths, hoping to hit something important. Both attacks hit the man with enough force to send the man flying over the desk. Alice quickly made her way over toward Percy, while still watching the place where the man had disappeared to.

"You think he's dead?" Alice asked without looking at Percy. She heard the boy snort next to her, almost like it was a silly question to even ask.

"Oh absolutely not, and as much as I want to chop him up into a thousand tiny little pieces, there are too many people that can get hurt in here. Especially with the condition that they're in now."

Alice nodded; She could see where the boy was coming from. Half of the classroom was still completely paralyzed and the other half, well they weren't in any position to help either.

"So," She paused. "What's the plan Gladiator?'

"It's pretty simple," Percy said. "We get them out of the way. Get him back through that mirror, and then shatter it. Hopefully, we can pull it all off without losing any limbs in the process."

"Well isn't this an interesting development." The man stood from behind the desk, his suit clear of blood but the tear was still there. He seemed more irritated than he was previously and even though they couldn't see this face, they could tell that he was glaring at them.

"An unknown variable has entered the equation and intends to oppose me, some insignificant child believes-"

"Dude," Percy said. "Shut up you sound like my grandfather."

The man yelled and Alice took that as her cue. She quickly performed a spell that sent all the desks sliding to separate sides of the room. The man sent out a blade of magic toward the two of them and before Alice even had time to put up a shield, Percy stood in front of her and cut the blade of magic clean in half. The magic, obviously having no clear purpose anymore, split to either side of them. On their right side, the windows were blown out and on their left side, the desks and the students sitting in them to go crashing onto the floor.

"Hey, watch where you're throwing those things dude, someone could get hurt." The man didn't hesitate to send out another attack, but this time Alice was prepared and threw up a shield around herself and Percy. She held it up until the spell was done battering against it and as soon as she let it fall, Percy rushed forward once again. This time, however, the man dodged exactly into a spotwhere Percy wanted him to be.

"Hey Alice, I could sure one of those blasts."

Alice didn't waste any time as she started on another spell, this time she was much faster though and when she let the blast loose, it pushed the, am even closer to the mirror that he came through. Then Percy held up his hand to toward the chemicals sitting on the professor's desk. Surprisingly they hadn't been knocked over, even though the man had been thrown onto it several times. The chemicals rose out of their vials and swirled together into a dangerous multicolored snake. Then, Percy pointed at the man and the mix of chemicals shot toward him like a speeding bullet. It hit the man with so much force that he went flying back through the mirror with his cloud of moths following him. As soon as he disappeared through the mirror portal.

Just as soon as he and his moths were gone, one of the other students in the classroom, Kady, picked up the chair and slammed it into the mirror. It broke and fell to the floor in a hundred different pieces. Percy, Alice, and Kady shared a look before all of them let out a breath. There were several groans from all around the classroom, the ones coming from Dean Fogg seemed to be the most pained. Everyone else seemed to be in some sort of shock. Then there was a laugh, one filled to the brim with disbelief, coming from none other than the class's resident demigod. Both Alice and Kady looked at the green-eyed boy in disbelief. How could he laugh at a time like this, they'd almost been killed and not by some regular weirdo, but a moth wearing freak that seemed to know more than he was supposed to, Quentin's name for example.

"I'm so sorry, I know you all almost died and everything, but honestly that was one of the weirder things I've ever had to fight, not the weirdest but definitely more weird than normal."

Alice stared at the boy. She took note of one of the things he'd said. Not "we almost died" but "you" like he wasn't in the same trapped position as the. But maybe what he had said was true. She was sure he'd been moving when everyone else was paralyzed as well as the fact that that sword he'd been carrying had glowed in a strange golden light. She couldn't put it out of her mind about how he'd been able to hurt the moth man and move as quickly as he could. It was amazing and quite frankly, it should have been impossible. Even though she used magic daily, she had a feeling that what the boy did was somehow the same, yet somehow otherworldly.

Then there was a snap.

Alice's vision went blurry and for a few moments, everything was hazy. The girl blinked and shook her head, and slowly the haziness went away. She looked around the classroom, her head pounding softly as she came to her senses. Alice looked around at the room in disarray before she started to move. Still, though, she couldn't help but feel like something was off. Someone was missing, someone impotent. She didn't know where they'd gone or how but there was something that didn't quite make sense.

Percy reappeared in his apartment just a few inches above the couch in his living room. He landed on it in a heap and let out a deep sigh.

"Fuck my partially immortal life," Percy yelled into his couch pillow. "Why the hell can't I ever get a break.'

Percy didn't even jump when a voice answered him back.

"You're far too caring for your own good, Dear. You put too much effort into keeping those ingrates safe. If I were you, I'd chuck the whole humanity thing in the bin and join us up on Mount Othrys. Believe me, you'd be doing us all a favor. Helios would finally shut up about you. "

Percy rolled his eyes but didn't turn toward the intruder.

"How is it that all you immortals are thousands of years old and don't know a single thing about privacy. Doesn't it get old, what if I'd been having sex right here on this couch?"

Percy could hear the grin on the intruders face the next time they spoke. Their voice was right next to Percy's ear, sending a chill down his spine. At the same time, he felt warmth creep up into every inch of his body.

"Well, Little Siren, I can honestly say that a few of us might have been tempted to join you."

Just as soon as it had appeared, the warmth that he'd felt was gone. His intruder spoke once again from the same spot they'd been before.

'But I'm here to speak about something other than sex, Perseus, but I suppose we can off-put our main objective if you're more interested in that."

"No, no, no, Krios," The titan of constellations smiled, happy to finally be acknowledged. "What exactly did you come here for."


	5. Where The Wild Things Roam

"If you insist," Krios said with a hint of a smile. "The titans have declared you the unofficial, official king of our kind."

Percy blinked, speechless, as Krios snapped his fingers and his head suddenly felt a lot heavier.

"I do have to admit, though, you look quite good in the crown, My Lord."

Percy let out a laugh, one that obviously said, you've got to be kidding me, and lifted the crown from off his head. It was made from obsidian and had three sharp, jagged edges rising from where it would rest on his forehead. There were three gems, one inlaid just beneath where each point started to rise and each pulsing faintly with power. The middle gem was a diamond and to the sides of it were a sapphire and a ruby.

"I don't want it." Percy said simply and holding the crown out towards Krios. The titan didn't look surprised.

"You don't understand Perseus."

Krios stood and began pacing the length of Percy's living room. He absentmindedly rubbed his chin as he searched for a way to explain the situation to Percy. He knew that the boy had issues with power and people in positions of power, Zeus being the main being that came to mind. The boy barely acknowledged his position as prince of the ocean.

"Percy what you have done for us is extraordinary. The gods and the titans were at war for thousands of years and you, the demigod of a thousand different impossibilities, managed to put an end to it simply because you were angry. Perseus, I don't know if you've been paying attention, but that shows the care much more about you then they let on. If you accept that crown, then that means the gods have to accept the fact that they are not the only immortal beings in the Greek pantheon. They may have rocketed this world into the golden age by force, but it does not mean we titans are nonexistent. You would be taking the crown of the titan king, as child of the gods themselves, will give them no choice but to accept that we must come together at some point. As their beloved savior, they would never turn their backs on you, especially your father."

Percy scoffed.

"As good as that sounds Krios, Zeus is and will always be paranoid. If I take that crown, he will see it as an act of aggression against his throne. And then, that will lead to the escalation that my father is declaring war against him, which will set the whole of Olympus off. This would also lead to the whole of Olympus choosing sides, which would be very bad for me, my friends, and oh yes, the rest of the entire fucking world. So, no Krios, I will not be taking the crown."

Krios sighed and snapped his fingers once again. The crown melted from Percy's hand like black tar and faded out of existence before it hit the floor.

"Perseus, you certainly are one of a kind. But I suppose you know what's best for yourself. I have no doubt that the others will be slightly disappointed, but I don't think they'll offer the throne to anyone else for quite some time."

Percy shrugged.

"Fair enough I suppose. But I'm not exactly the best fit to rule a kingdom, even though I'd have an eternity to figure it out."

Krios nods and gives the demigod a small smile.

"Remember Perseus, a good king isn't born. He learns, from life, from experience, and from others. You might think that you're not ready now, but who knows how you'll feel in a few years. But I suppose, it's time that will tell how you change and what actions you will take. Now Perseus, it's time that I take my leave, I have matters to attend to."

Percy nodded and watched a Krios slowly faded from existence. It was nothing flashy like Zeus had done earlier that day. It what was almost the exact same spot. Percy let a groan before he decided it was time to get to work. He had a lot of work to do to figure out exactly what had attacked the class and why. He also had to figure out how to kill it, preferably before the monster came back and decided he wanted to finish the job. How unlucky could he be, a demigod attacked in a classroom full of magicians, and not the ones he was used to. Quite frankly he found it rude and obnoxious that it would happen, The Fates apparently had it out for him.

Percy reached for a stray drachma from on the living room table and rolled it between his fingers. With a wave of his free hand he conjured a rainbow over the coffee table and flicked the drachma through it. He watched as disappeared into the rainbow before he spoke.

"Oh Fleecy do me a solid," The rainbow rippled. "Show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood."

The rainbow rippled, once, twice, three times before Chiron appeared in the shimmering screen.

The surprise was clear on the centaur's face as he looked at Percy from the other side.

"Perseus, my boy, it's been quite a long time since I've seen you, it's nice."

Percy could hear a hint of sadness behind Chiron's voice.

"No matter," Chiron said suddenly. "What is it that I can help you with my boy?"

Percy took a few minutes to find the words that he wanted to say.

"Are there any monsters that we know that relate to moths?"

Chiron considered his question for a moment, and Percy could see the gears in the old Centaur's head turning. Percy was hoping that the man could come up with a lead, otherwise that would put him back at square one. It probably would have been better to check with Athena, but he and the goddess weren't on the best of terms. Hell, he was pretty sure she hated him even more than before, but hey, that was her own problem Percy had made it clear that he had no problem with the goddess of wisdom, however she had let her rivalry with his father, get in the way of seeing reason. The way she held grudges were something serious, and he'd always thought Nico and Hades had it worst.

"While I can't think of any off the top of my head, there might be something in my records," Chiron paused, a hand resting on his chin. "I could check and then get back to you."

Percy nodded with a smile.

"Thank you, Chiron, that would be a lot of help."

The centaur gave a small smile and went to swipe through the IM but something stopped him.

"Perseus, if something has happened, I want you to understand that you will always be safe and welcome at camp. There was a time where we'd thought we'd lost you and it devastated everyone. We don't want you to disappear and not come back Perseus, even if you haven't touched our soil for years."

Percy couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips.

"I know Chiron, and just so you know I miss you guys too." Percy stopped. "But I think it was best that I took time away from Camp."

Chiron nodded.

"That's fair I suppose." He said solemnly.

With that Percy offers one last smile and waves goodbye before swiping through the Iris Message.

Once upon a time, Julia was certain that her mother or someone had warned her against this very situation. Never go into creepy abandoned buildings with guys you met in dimly lit bar bathrooms. It was too bad, Julia had something in her sights and unfortunately for the rules, they were getting chucked out the window.

"So what exactly is this place," Julia asked as she walked into the building and let her companion lock the door behind her. "Y'know, besides a health hazard."

Before the guy answered, he let out a chuckle.

"Time was, finest meat packing plant in town."

Julia gave the place a once over.

"Yeah," She murmured. "It's a winner."

Julia let him lead her further into the warehouse before she began asking another string of questions. She wanted to get as much information as he could before she fully agreed to join whatever little group that they had.

"So, that star on your arm-" She didn't get to finish her question before he interrupted her.

"I earned it. You will too with effort, a whole sleeve of them."

Julia already had more questions than answers.

"So, what does it mean?" She stressed. "Does it mean that-"

Once again, she got cut off, she was getting really tired of that.

"You ask a lot of questions." Pete said as he opened the door to the back room.

"Yeah, sure do." Julia said with a raised eyebrow.

Pete didn't say anything in response and instead, silently stepped through the door that he had opened. With nowhere else to go, but home, Julia followed him, making sure to step widely over a dead rat that was in her way. Inside she heard the chattering of several other voices before once cut through them all.

"Oh my god, these are real?" The voice asked. "Every single one of them?"

As Julia walked through yet another door, she noticed that the voice had originated from a red headed girl, sitting with her legs crossed on top of a table. In her lap was a book, and if Julia had to guess, she'd say it was full of spells. The girl flipped the pages back and forth, examining each page repeatedly.

"Guy," Pete said as he laid his things down on a different table and poured himself a cup of coffee. "This is Julia. Julia my associates."

"And that is-" He paused and gestured to the girl sitting on the table. "Sorry what's your name sweetie."

"Oh," She said. "I'm Marina, I'm new."

"No kidding." Pete said under his breathe before turning to one of the other people in the room.

"Everything up and running?" He asked. Julia had no idea what was going on.

"Yeah." The guy replied smoothly.

"Julia and Marina," Pete said suddenly. "Grand tour."

Julia let out a long sigh before she followed Pete and Marina out of the room.

"So, who were those people exactly?" Julia asked almost cautiously and surprisingly it was marina who answered.

"You seriously don't know?" She asked with a scoff. "What are you even doing here?"

Julia shrugged.

"I don't know." She said. "Waiting for something interesting to happen. You? "

Marina gave a small, almost condescending laugh as she answered.

"Magic. That's what I'm doing here. They're hedge witches, we're hedge witches. Jesus, how are you eve-"

"Girls,"

Pete cut her off. Julia was actually glad to hear the sound of his voice.

"Play nice." Mariana gave a sly smile and leaned up against the wall of where they had stopped.

"So here," Pete gestured to door. "Is where we keep all of our ingredients and such, it keeps them safe."

"It's a-" Julia began to point out but Pete cut her off once again.

"Meat locker," He said as he opened the door. "Or it was."

Julia could feel a gust of gold air blow past her as he opened it up. She was 50% sure that there was something fishy going on, but she wasn't exactly sure if she should turn away just yet.

"Now, its so well stocked, it's like the end of the rainbow."

Julia watched as Marina walked in without a care in the world. She wondered briefly if the girl was somehow apart of this whole thing. Not exactly as new to this as she had said.

"After you." Pete said with a small smile.

Slowly and cautiously, Julia walked into the room after the red headed girl. Not even a few moments later, the door closed behind them.

"Hey," Julia said, turning around. The cold air was already nipping at her skin, even through the jacket she was wearing. The she heard the door lock.

"Come on, open the door."

Pete looked at her blankly and took a sip of his coffee, then without so much as a word, he walked away.

"Hey!" She called after him, hoping that he would turn around and let them out

"Don't be an asshole, open the door! DUDE!"

Julia slammed her hand against the window in the door, frustration painting her ever word.

She let out a deep sigh.

 _Fuck,_ was all she could think as she began to notice just how cold the meat locker actually was. Maybe she should have followed those rules that were so deeply implanted in every child's mind.

At a different location, another girl was coming to realize exactly how luck she was to be alive. After seeing the beast completely overpower to powerful magicians like they were nothing more than flies, Alice Quinn couldn't help but think that she had been saved by some divine interference. Even now though, as she was being questioned about the attack, the areas around her memory were still hazy, subspecialty so.

"We were frozen." She told the woman questioning her. She couldn't even remember her name.

"Um, it was some kind of paralysis spell," She paused and looked around her. "It took over the whole room."

 _Not the whole room, he still faught,_ her mind whispered quietly, but she ignored it. Every one of them had been frozen in their seats while The Beast had killed the professor and then ripped out Dean Fogg's eyes and broken his hand.

She could still hear the faint fluttering of moths and she could still smell Dean Fogg's blood. She didn't know how, but the smell was way bigger than the amount of blood that was actually spilled. Even the dead professor hadn't bled. She was sure she was missing something, something way more important than any of them could realize.

She turned back to the woman, nearly a thoughts running through her mind. Yet, none of them made sense. She thought they didn't.

With that, the woman moved on to question the others in the class room. Starting with anoutner of the young students.

"I already told you," Penny said angrily. "the Dean had something in his hand. I don't know where it went after that."

She didn't get much from Penny, so she moved on to yet another student. The one who seemed to be at the center of it all. Quentin Coldwater.

The boy seemed lost in his own thoughts, remembering what had happened not so long ago. He answered the woman's questions as best as he could, all the while still wanting to throw up everything that he had eaten earlier that day. Quentin managed to give her a detailed account of what had occurred from his point of view.

"You can materialize objects?" She asked when he was done explaining.

It was such a simple explanation for something so complicated, but he supposed it was the correct one. He had been frozen like the rest of them, yet somehow, the Dean's stopwatch had ended up in his hands. He couldn't have moved, and neither could the Dean, so how else had it ended up in his hands. So now he had two questions running through his mind. The first was why did the correct explanation feel so wrong and secondly where was the stopwatch now.

"I've been doing card tricks half my life," Quentin told the woman questioning him. "I guess some of them were disappearing."

There was a silence between the two of them for some time before yet another question popped into Quentin's mind. This one though, he did not bother hesitating to ask.

"Is the dead?" The woman looked surprised to hear his voice. "The Dean?"

After giving him her answer, she sent him off to be examined and moved on to another student, this time a girl who seemed to stand out just a bit more than the others.

She found her pacing with an ice pack pressed to her forehead, Kady Orloff Diaz had fired off battle magic inside the room and while it may have saved them, it was also extremely dangerous.

"How did you know that spell?" That was the first question that she asked the girl, who looked to be on the verge of running out of the classroom.

"Look," She said fiercely. "I know we're not supposed to be firing off battle magic, but I mean, come on. The circumstances gave me no other choice."

He eyes darted around the room.

"Can we just get out of this room soon?" She said anxiously. "Please."

Soon enough all of the students were together once again, and the woman who had question them separately began to speak

"I know you want to understand what happened," She said evenly. "Here is what I can say."

She now had the attention of all of them, but Quentin, Alice, Penny and Kady paid special attention to her words.

"We live in a world that is one among many others. The Beast you encountered today was from one of such worlds. We do not know the exact nature of this entity, only that it was very powerful and malevolent."

She paused, looking each of them in the eyes.

"And we know that it is gone now." She sighed. "Wards and shields protect Brakebills. They are encoded to each authorized person on campus and no one else. We are investigating how this beast got through and resetting everyone. If someone is responsible for this attack, rest assured they will be expelled. Classes are cancelled for tomorrow. They will resume Wednesday. There will be a quiz."

It was obvious that they had a problem, and a big one at that.

Soon enough they were allowed to leave, Penny and Kady stayed together, but went their separate ways while Quentin went after Alice.

"Okay," He began to speak nervously, but the blonde girl cut him off.

"Don't." She said forcibly.

"Hey," Quentin said, getting in front of her and stopping her in her tracks.

"We did that spell. You don't get to say don't, okay?"

Alice glanced around them nervously, somewhat afraid that someone would overhear them talking.

"If they find out-" Quentin couldn't finish speaking before another voice cut into the conversation.

"There they are."

"Glad to see you kid."

To their surprise, there was Elliot and Margo, The two quickly converged on them like vultures with much less evil intent.

"Where are the other one?"

Margo asked, looking around the two of them.

"Who?" Alice asked.

"You know," Margo said. "The sassy pretty one."

Both Quentin and Alice stared at her blankly.

"Know what, it doesn't matter."

With that, the two upperclassmen began leading the away.

"No, it's okay," Eliot said with his arm around Quentin. "We're just gonna get you a nice drink. Jesus, you didn't tell me you were dangerous."

Julia let out a shaky breath and cursed under her breath as she looked for a signal and was constantly disappointed when she didn't find any.

"Pretty sure my boyfriends starting to get curious about where I am." She said just loud enough that Marina could hear her.

"Oh Jesus Christ, its cold." The red headed girl responded, completely ignoring Julia's previous statement.

"We're stuck and they're trying to kill us." The girl all but yelled.

Julia shook her head. That was one thing that she didn't actually believe. Why would he go through all that trouble to convince her to come here only to kill her. No, this had to be some kind of test.

"They're not trying to kill us, okay?" She said and began studying the things on the shelves around her. "These people are not murderers. Trust me."

"H-How do you know that?" Marina asked, the cold clearly seeping into her faster than it was Julia.

"Because, they don't have the balls for it." The brown-haired girl said simply. "It's like some sort of hazing ritual, a test. I'm sick of flunking tests right now."

She threw a glance at the other girl.

"I'm gonna figure it out."

With that she went to explore more of the meat locker. She looked closely at everything, just in case she saw something that might be able to help her.

Carefully and slowly, she walked through a door way that had plastic hanging down from overhead, and using her phone as a source of light, she looked around the much darker room. Julia, let out a grunt when her foot caught on something heavy and sent her stumbling to the ground. She heard Marina scurry through the same plastic drapes that she had just a few moments before, and just as she turned around the girl let out a loud scream.

 _Oh how nice,_ Julia's mind said to he as he thoughts turned dark, _At least they've given us company while we freeze to death._

Yes, they frozen body of someone else was certainly much more company than they'd previously expected.

Just like Julia, Percy had managed to find trouble of his own. He now stood in front of the entrance to the underworld, located conveniently in Cental Park.

He was on his way to see one of the gods of the underworld, well goddess would be more appropriate, maybe Titaness even more so.

He was hoping that the titled, goddess of magic would be able to help figure out his moth problem, and the only way to find out was to go to the underworld and find the woman herself. There was a significant amount of his plan the relied on unknow variables, for instance, he had no idea if this particular entrance to the underworld would allow him safe passage. He realized he could have called his cousin, Nico, and have him shadow travel, but that would take all the fun out of everything.

This was serious, of course someone had just tried to kill him using a cloud of moths as a disguise, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun. But for now, he had to wait, because while he did not can one Nico Di Angelo, he had called another one of his best friends. Grover Underwood. Who just so happened to be Lord of the Wild.

It wasn't long before he heard the voice of his best friend calling his name from just a few feet away. The satyr had changed since the last time Percy had seen him, that was an obvious statement. Grover's job as Lord of The Wild, kept him moving all around the world, looking for ways to maintain all the wild places and keep the world from dying.

"Hey G-Man!" Percy yelled out with a bright smile on his face. "How you been?"

Grover wrapped Percy in a hug as soon as he came to stand next to the demigod.

"Everything's been going pretty smoothly; we've been doing some real good work up in the Amazon. I've been back and forth between there and Camp every two weeks to help Juniper with the kids."

Percy couldn't help but smile at the mention of the kids. Grover and Juniper had ended up having a pair of twins, a girl and a boy. Willow, who was a wood nymph like her mother, and Aspen, a little satyr boy.

"They're doing fine," Grover said with a gentle smile, his eyes sparkling. "They miss their uncle Percy though."

He gave the demigod a pointed look.

"Well then I promise I'll come visit soon." He said with a smile. "We wouldn't want them to miss me for too long."

"Good." Grover said. "Now let's get down to business. "

With that, Grover placed his reed pipes to his lips and began to play a tune. The melodies quickly saturated the air around the two figures straight out of mythology, and soon enough, it was as if everything began to sway in unison. Percy could feel the vibrations of the earth under his feet as the entrance to the underworld slowly, but surely began to reveal itself.

Soon enough, the satyr's playing stopped and in front of them was the entrance to the underworld, as dark and foreboding as it could be.

"Good luck, Perce."

Grover said and clapped him on his shoulder.

"Thanks G-Man."

With that Percy took a plunge into darkness.


End file.
